Title: The Writer's Guide to Psychology
Author: Carolyn Kaufman
Publisher: Linden Publishing
What It's About: The Writer's Guide to Psychology is a book for fiction writers who want to write the psychological aspects of their characters as authentically as possible.
Why I Read It: I'm a fiction writer, and I wanted to understand the psychology of people so that I can write characters that are more believable.
What I Liked About It: Kaufman puts to rest many misconceptions that fiction writers may have about psychology. Mistakes that fiction writers have made in the past are brought to light, so that fiction writers can make the best use of the tool of psychology in their writing.
The book, on one level, is about the drives that people have that make them do the things they do. On this level, the book helps fiction writers get into character motivations and understand what makes people tick. It also helps them to understand the psychological disorders some people experience so that a writer can write a character with a psychological disorder authentically.
On another level, the book is about understanding the roles of psychological professionals, the people that help those who suffer psychological disorders. For example, what does a therapist do, and what does a therapy session look like. What kind of treatments do those with disorders have to go through. Understanding these things can help you to avoid inaccurate portrayals of what psychology looks like in real life.
This is a book that should be on every fiction writer's bookshelf.
Review copy provided by Linden Publishing
Where You Can Buy It: Amazon.com
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